THE future of the second Mersey crossing is expected to be secured today when a crucial #64m government grant is given the green light.

The funding will pave the way for private sector money to pour into the #370m Mersey Gateway scheme, in its most significant step forward yet.

Members of the North West Regional Assembly's (NWRA) executive board are due to meet today to approve recommendations for #1.3bn of transport projects across the region.

Among the priorities identified in the 11-year plan was the #64m funding for the Runcorn to Widnes bridge, which Halton councillors and businessmen demanded from transport ministers in Downing Street last month.

Yesterday, council leader Cllr Tony McDermott said: "We are absolutely delighted about this. It is exactly the amount we wanted, as 77% of the cost of the bridge will come from the private sector.

"These are recommendations that go straight to the Department for Transport, and it is what they asked us to do - to get the scheme on to the list of the region's priorities.

"Provided nothing happens between now and the end of January, when the list is sent off to London, we will be able to say it is a regional priority and our job has been done."

During the visit, the delegation highlighted the urgent need for a bridge between Runcorn and Widnes, and asked for a #64m grant for issues such as land purchase and site decontamination. The Government has already agreed to #71m of PFI (Private Finance Initiative) credits.

The rest of the money would come from private contractors who would run tolling operations.

The bridge would run from the central expressway in Runcorn to the Eastern Bypass in Widnes, about a mile and a quarter to the east of the existing Silver Jubilee Bridge, which at the moment carries ten times more vehicles a day than it was ever intended for.

Major Merseyside companies like Jaguar and Peel Holdings, owner of Liverpool John Lennon Airport, have long expressed their support for the new bridge and the greater access it will give in and out of the region.

* AT TODAY'S meeting, the 18-strong panel is expected to approve the list of recommendations made by private consultancy firm WS Atkins, before it is passed to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling to be rubber-stamped.

Among the recommendations are a #12.5m grant for the Hall Lane strategic gateway and #31m of maintenance works to the Silver Jubilee Bridge.

Sefton has also scored a major coup with proposals to allocate #9.3m to a long-awaited relief road between Thornton and Switch Island.

A spokesman said: "We have been trying to get funding for this road for a long time and we have succeeded after a great deal of hard work.

"I would like to see the road completed within about four or five years, but we have a long way to go yet." The NWRA's executive board consists of 18 members, 70% of whom are drawn from the public sector and 30% from the private sector.

We've been short-changed, say politicians as lion's share of the money goes to Manchester >>>>

We've been short-changed, say politicians as lion's share of the money goes to Manchester>

POLITICIANS last night said Merseyside had been short-changed by the NWRA after it earmarked three times more money for projects in Manchester.

The executive board's recommendations will mean Greater Manchester gets #488.4m (46% of the money) while Merseyside, including Liverpool and Halton, will be assigned #167.6m (16%).

MPs and councillors said the allocations would be a kick in the teeth for the region, which was refused #170m of public cash for the Merseytram scheme in November, particularly as Manchester could be granted #260m for its Metrolink.

Last night, NWRA officials insisted the proposals, which will be passed to the Department for Transport (DfT) for approval, were worked out using fair criteria and did not represent a disproportion between regions.

Liverpool council leader Cllr Warren Bradley, met Merseyside's four other authority leaders before Christmas and said they were to demand the #170m from the Government in the light of the proposals.

Last night he said: "We have been getting the short end of the wedge in transport funding from the Government for years.

"I feel upset that we have been let down by transport ministers and civil servants yet again." John Pugh, Lib-Dem MP for Southport, questioned the democratic processes behind the panel, criticising its "secretive" methods and the fact it was not directly elected by the public.

He said: "The only people with real influence and leverage in regional transport appear to be the executive class of the government agencies and the consultants they hire."

But Phil Robinson, the assembly's acting chief executive, said priorities were decided from a criteria based on 50% economic considerations, 25% environmental considerations and 25% social considerations.

"I am sure this will upset people, but difficult decisions have to be made. There are always winners and losers, if you can call them that."

Responding to criticisms about democratic processes, Mr Robinson insisted the process was not secretive.